Libyan deportation: 94 women, 18 children, suffered abuse- IOM

No fewer than 94 women and 18 children (nine children and nine infants), inclusive of the 161 Libyan returnees, have undergone traumatic physical abuse and are in dare need of rehabilitation.

The returnees, particularly the vulnerable ones (women and children), need help to reintegrate back into the society, Head of SubOffice,
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Lagos, Nahashon Thuo, has said.

Minutes after arriving at the Murtala Murhammed (MM) Airport Lagos, with nothing but their clothes and the stipends given to them for transport back home, the joy of home coming and freedom finally gave way to the realisation of the life of hardship they have to face without any income here in Nigeria.

“It is painful that I will begin from scratch again with my unborn child,” Bridget Akeamo, one of the returnees who had become pregnant
in Libyan, said.

Bridget, an indigene of Anambra State, narrated how she left Nigeria in August last year in search of greener pasture, but was arrested while
trying to cross to Italy from Libya.